Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Landmarkism and the SBC

Gene Bridges has begun to post online the text of his recently printed volume on Landmarkism. The full title is, A Condensed History of Landmarkism in the Southern Baptist Convention with Particular Reference to Baptism and the International Mission Board in the Present Day (Gene is a graduate of the Jonathan Edwards School of book titles!). This booklet has some excellent material in it that would benefit any Southern Baptist who wants to be educated about Landmarkism before the upcoming SBC meeting in Greensboro.

It done in blog form, so you have to read from the bottom entry to the top.

I'm posting in segments, so the text is not yet completely posted as of today (Tuesday). I'll complete it by this Friday. That way, it will be more "digestible" for readers.

I'll have some printed copies with me in Greensboro for folks who want one. They are free of charge.

The reason that this is being posted in electronic form is that the printing was donated so there are only a limited number of printed copies, 900 of which are already dogeared. I'll have just under 100 in Greensboro.

This is a popular level survey text. It's not a blow by blow detailed recitation of history, but the links to today are all there. A number of issues, including such items as principled dissent, the definition of hyper-Calvinism, and even the dishonest statistical reporting in the Convention are all discussed in some manner, as each has a historical antecedent that touches on the main topic and thus on today's issues. If you think about what I discuss, you can figure out what I'm addressing.

As soon as I finish reading the title, hopefully sometime next week, I am going to read the book. Having read Gene's other posts I know that it is going to be good. I would like for him to follow up the book with another one on Pewism.

Email me. My email addy is in my profile. I've had a number of requests for the full text.

A. I will have some with me in Greensboro (just under 100), so, for those coming to Greensboro, look for me. I'll be the tall bald guy with half a right ear. You can't miss me.

B. Email me if you are not going to be in Greensboro. I can email you a copy of the original manuscript.

C. I am aware that there are some typos in the print version that neither I nor my editor caught the first time around. One footnote (number 3) has the wrong author. It should be J.M. Carroll. Those of you with manuscripts sent pre-release, please note the change. There are also two spelling typos that I have caught in the print version. One was mine, the other was by the printer, as it was not in the manuscript. When I caught my error the first fifty had been printed already. They were to correct these errors for the bulk printing, but I do not know if they have done so. I have corrected these in the online version and the manuscript itself.